Call for Projects:UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Initiative Program

The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative (WHV) was launched in 2008 to encourage young people to undertake concrete actions and to play an active role in the protection, preservation and promotion of World Heritage sites. It consists of action camps organized by youth organizations or institutions in cooperation with multiple stakeholders and partners, which work all together for the state of conservation of World Heritage sites. The initiative mobilizes national and international volunteers through hands-on and awareness-raising activities for the conservation of our common cultural and natural heritage.

In the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, the initiative is led by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS), European Heritage Volunteers (as a branch of Open Houses) and Better World.

The project:
a. Should be organised in immediate connection to a property inscribed on the World Heritage List or a site inscribed on a Tentative List [Reference: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list ; http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists ];
b. Should have a minimum 10 day duration (excluding arrival and departure dates);
c. Should include the same group of people for a minimum 10 day duration, consecutive or not;
d. Should ideally start after the 15 June and end by the 15 December;
e. Should involve as much as possible international volunteers;
f. Should include awareness activities, practical hands-on activities and skills related to World Heritage sites where the action camp will be conducted (detailed definitions of hands-on activities and skills in Annex below);
g. Should be developed in consultation with site managers and local authorities in planning details of the activities;
h. Should include practical hands-on skills training activities as well as reflection on issues related to World Heritage;
i. Should involve the community in order to deepen their knowledge around issues related to World Heritage and the World Heritage Volunteers Initiative;

j. Should respect participants’ gender equality (ideally equal number of male and female) and geographical diversity (ideally from different countries and regions)

Applying organisation:

a. Should be legally registered as a public or private organisation or institution in the country where the project takes place;
b. All activities of the organisation related to WHV should be no profit. All local, national and international partnerships developed by the applicant in the framework of the WHV should be submitted for approval to the WHV coordinators;
c. First time applicants should submit two letters of support from recognised organisations and/or institutions recommending the applicant on the basis of past or current proven cooperation;
d. First time applicants should submit a copy of their Constitution / Bylaws and of their most recent activity report in one of the UN official languages.

Join the Campaign

To empower the Commitment to World Heritage, the World Heritage Centre invites all youth organizations, NGOs, institutions, and public authorities that wish to involve young people in World Heritage preservation through the implementation of action camps at World Heritage sites in 2020.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Initiative 2020 Program